


Forward

by wiltshire



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 19:32:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14409069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wiltshire/pseuds/wiltshire
Summary: They would move forward together. One step at a time.





	Forward

Tim could still remember when it all ended.   
  
Alex was dead. That much was clear from where Tim was standing. Brian stood in front of the body, his back towards Tim. He said nothing as Tim walked up to him, gingerly pulling the metal bat out of his hand which had been steadily dripping blood onto the cement floor. He set the bat down next to the body that had been Alex at one point before grabbing that same hand and squeezing it tightly. Brian returning the gesture was the only sign of a response he got. That mask was still obscuring Brian's face and Tim wanted nothing more than to pull it off and see just what was going on under there. He didn't. It was too risky. He knew that it was still Brian and that was all he needed.   
  
A sense of urgency seemed to tug at the corner of Tim's mind that he needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Whatever happened after that was a blur. The next thing Tim could remember he was laying on the ground in some abandoned building with Brian not too far away.   
  
It had been months since everything had happened. Getting Brian to talk about what happened was hard. Convincing him to get rid of that mask was harder. Much to Tim's frustration, it had taken a while to get him to open up about anything at all.   
  
It had always been like this. Brian was just as explosive as he had been before, but he seemed more frustrated with himself than ever. Instead of trying to talk out his frustrations he would let them bottle up then release it all at once. More often than not, he sought out physical comfort from Tim, though it was nothing more than clinging to him uselessly. He liked to lay his head in Tim's lap and just rest whenever they could afford to. They both knew it would be dangerous if they tried to stay in one place for too long.  
  
So they ran, but more than anything they stayed together. Brian was all that Tim had and he wasn't willing to lose him again. He doubted Brian exactly wanted to be left alone like this anyways. They relied on each other too much to just go their separate ways and act like nothing had ever happened. It was nice to have someone around that understood what kind of position they were in without having to explain all the details. If anything, the years of friendship they shared made it much easier to talk with relative ease.    
  
When they weren't running for their lives, it was almost peaceful. They would spend their nights curled up in either cheap hotel rooms or abandoned buildings if they were unlucky enough. It didn't matter much. There would always be a lingering paranoia of being watched no matter where they stayed. Alex may have been dead but that didn't help save them from The Operator. It seemed to always be lurking nearby if they stayed in one place for more than a few days.   
  
Tim tried to make their lives seem normal whenever he could. He did little things like buying a laptop to keep them occupied whenever or taking Brian out on "dates" that usually consisted of getting food at some fast food restaurant. One of Brian's favorite things to do seemed to be to just put on whatever music he could find online and just zone out. It was understandable, to say the least. Sometimes it was easier not to think about the position they were in. Tim wanted to help. Brian didn't make it easy for him but he tried. That seemed to be all that mattered. In it's own weird way that seemed to be enough.    
  
Brian opened up at his own pace. Tim was fine with that. He was only relieved to know that Brian was willing to talk to him. It was better, though. Moving on immediately would have been impossible in their situation. They both knew it would be hard to return to the way things were before but neither of them wanted to think of giving up. Whether it was stubbornness or an actual want to get better, they didn't know. It didn't seem to matter much in the long run. All that mattered was feeling  _something._ Anything other than the hollow feeling of being controlled when everything was static and migraines.   
  
Their time on the run seemed to be a blur. Brian was much better at picking everything up and immediately figuring out what they needed to do next. Tim was good at finding a place for them to stay and dealing with people. He maintained contact with his therapist enough to continue his prescription. It kept him alive and that was the only reason he even risked keeping in contact with someone who wasn't Brian. It didn't necessarily put him at risk with The Operator but he wasn't about to take the chance of leaving behind much of a trail. The less known they were, the better.   
  
It was strange. Their lives couldn't be considered normal by any means but they weren't unhappy being together all the time. Being on the run let them go wherever they wanted, even if it wasn't necessarily a vacation.  
  
Everything seemed calm at the moment. The room was quiet, save for music emanating from somewhere in the room and the faint moving of the hands on the clock. It was something that Tim didn't recognize. Not that it mattered to him. Anything was better than silence.   
  
They were in a cheap hotel room again. Opening his eyes, Tim slowly dragged himself out of sleep. He slowly sat up, squinting at the clock to see the time and giving a heavy sigh when he noticed that it was only six in the morning. He knew it would be impossible to get back to sleep and more importantly, Brian was absent from bed. It wasn't as if he had to look far though.   
  
Brian sat across the room on a plain wooden chair that sat in front of the desk. He had his head down but it was easy to tell that his hood was up. The laptop sat in front of him opened to Youtube, confirming that it was indeed the source of the music. The laptop was the only source of light in the room, given that it was too early for the sun to have even risen yet. The faint glow wasn't quite bright enough to see if Brian was awake or not, so dragging himself out of bed, Tim made him way over to the other side of the room where he was sitting.   
  
As soon as Tim was close enough to see, he noted that Brian's eyes were open but didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. He looked tired. Tim doubted he had gotten any sleep last night and didn't blame him in the slightest. It had been a struggle to get everything together fast enough to get out of town like that. Had it not been for pure exhaustion, he wouldn't have slept either.   
  
"Couldn't sleep?" Tim kept his voice quiet, as to not startle him. Brian only nodded before lifting his head and motioning him over. Stepping closer, Tim was unsurprisingly pulled into Brian's arms. He returned the simple gesture by sitting across his lap and only smiling when Brian rested his head on Tim's shoulder.  
  
Brian had always been big on physical affection, even when they had known each other before everything. Tim was okay with that. It was a comfort for him at this point, if anything. Brian was warm. He needed that. It was just another small reminder that they were still alive.   
  
Tim liked moments like these when they could just sit together. He was about to ask if Brian was doing okay but he beat him to it.  
  
"I was scared, you know." Brian wasn't looking at Tim. He had his cheek resting on his shoulder, his eyes shut as he spoke. Tim said nothing, knowing he wasn't done talking. He looped an arm around Brian's torso just to be even a little bit closer. He wasn't used to hearing him being upfront about this kind of thing. "I think," he continued. "It was because we got too careless."  
  
Tim opened his mouth to protest but shut it again. He knew Brian was right, after all. They had stayed a day late to pick day late to pick up his prescription. He felt his chest tighten. This was his fault. If he hadn't needed that they could have gotten out of town on time. Again, Brian seemed to predict what he was going to say before he could even get it out.  
  
"It's not your fault so don't you dare apologize. If I'd have noticed the signs of it being close, I would have gotten us the hell out of there." There was a pause just long enough for Tim to wonder if he was done talking. He wasn't. "Truth is, I'm more scared of losing you than I am of whatever the hell that thing is." Brian was trying really hard to avoid looking at him now. His grip on Tim had tightened though, as if he was afraid to let go.  
  
Tim took a deep breath. "It's not your fault either, Brian. It's not like we can predict when that thing is going to show up."  Brian only hummed in response, not opening his eyes. "You should get some rest. Forcing yourself to stay awake isn't going to keep either of us any safer. Besides, it's still pretty early anyways." Tim almost added the fact that it wasn't good for his health to pull all nighters like this. He didn't have to though. Brian had gotten the point. He nudged Tim off his lap so that he could stretch.   
  
"I'll try to sleep if you lay down with me. It's not like you have anything better to do, anyways." Brian stood up and pulled his hoodie off. He was wearing a plain white shirt underneath. Walking back over to Tim, he grabbed his hand and squeezed it, mimicking the same thing that Tim had done to him months ago after what he did. It was just something they did to comfort each other. Neither of them could recall just how far back they'd been doing it. It was just one of the small things that felt like something that they had always done.   
  
Tim wasn't about to protest. The idea of getting more sleep seemed promising right now. They definitely both needed it, Brian even more so than him. Before he could actually respond though, Brian walked over and flopped onto the bed, patting the spot beside him in invitation. Rolling his eyes at the goofy look on his face, Tim followed and laid down next to him, more than happy by the way Brian almost immediately wrapped an arm around him once more. It was an innocent gesture, nothing more than a way to feel just a little more secure. It was more Brian being protective than anything. It wasn't uncommon for him to get like this after close encounters.   
  
"We're gonna be alright, you know." Tim spoke quietly, but he made sure to sound as confident as he could in what he was saying. "Some day this will all be over and we'll be able to move on. I don't know when that's gonna be but it'll happen. This can't go on forever." He wasn't sure if what he was saying was true. For all he knew, this would follow them until the day they died. For both of their sake, he hoped that wasn't the case. All he wanted was to be able to live with Brian in peace and not fear for his life for once.  
  
Brian broke his train of thought by pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I know. We'll get through this." He gave another one of those dumb grins that made Tim want to hold him and never let him go. He could only bring himself to nod in response. Brian yawned before he spoke again. "Now get to sleep. You can worry some more when you're actually rested."  
  
He had a point. Tim shut his eyes, allowing himself to drift off knowing Brian wouldn't be far behind. They would move forward together. One step at a time. 


End file.
